


Blue blood

by FernShaw



Category: Hollow Knight (Video Games)
Genre: Angst, Both contain violence but you decide if you wanna see Lace die or not, Depending on which ending you choose, F/F, Fear of Death, Gen, Hurt No Comfort, Hurt/Comfort, Multiple Endings, Near Death Experiences, You choose what you read !, tw :
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-15
Updated: 2020-09-15
Packaged: 2021-03-06 20:41:16
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,576
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26485075
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/FernShaw/pseuds/FernShaw
Summary: Lace and Hornet's fights gets more and more aggressive until one day ... something unexpected happens.
Relationships: Hornet/Lace (Hollow Knight), Lace & Hornet (Hollow Knight)
Kudos: 41





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Hi ! This fic is a reader-based fic <3 Thoses aren't two chapters but rather two versions of the story  
> you can read both if you want, around half of the words differ from a version to another. After the sentence "This is... The end, huh ?", everything is different !  
> I know it might be confusing but I hope you can enjoy it still !

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is the bad end version of the fic ! enjoy !

"I am not going to loose this time, little spider ! I will make sure you won't reach what's behind thoses doors !"

The clashing sounds of the two metallic weapons was horrible to both of the girl's ears. They were tired, exhausted by theses constant fights. Lace was determined to stop Hornet before the cult captures her, but the spider was clearly not going to give up, at least not without giving all she could into a fight.

The more timed passed and more Lace became ... Aggressive. She was starting to hit harder, strong, faster. And with her attacks being quite often, Hornet was never able to get some proper rest. It was really something hard to go through, for both of them. Lace was getting desperate to kill Hornet. Because if she didn't do it on time, the cult would find her and ... Who knew what would they do to her ? Torture ? Mental use ? A long and painful death ? No ... Probably slavery. She was not going to let this happen. Even if it meant to be sleep deprived and vulnerable like that.

She kept jumping around, trying to get Hornet lost enough to strike her from behind quickly, in a place that would end her life immediately. But Hornet was intelligent, and just as agile. She kept following her movements and ... That's when it happened.

Lace thought she was on the right place to strike. She was right on top of the spider, she just had to let herself get down with her pin in hand to skewer her in one movement and it would be the end. But that was underestimating Hornet's reflexes. The spider moved quickly and used her needle to strike the fencer directly on her chest. The move was ... Unexpectedly powerful. It went through her exosqueletons in one go, piercing her flesh like a mere tiktik's. Lace lost all of her senses in one go, and didn't manage to stop her fall properly. She simply crashes on the floor with a loud sound, barely able to understand what was going on.

And that's where it went.

Lace is here. On the ground. She doesn't know what happened but ... She does know that her torso hurts like it never did. It burns, to a point where she's too confused to actually ask herself how and why.

Lace starts to loose her ability to see, and feels less and less pain. She should've known better, that thoses fights would end up with a defeat one day. This was it. The end was near. She gasped for air, her lungs burning at each breath she took. Tears starting to fall down of her eyes. She wasn't sure why ... She had learned to just accept the pain. She wasn't crying because of sadness. Maybe ... Was it fear ? It ressembled it. That was it. Lace didn't want to die. She was still fighting for her life despite the fact that she knew it was the end. Her desire to live couldn't be stopped even if she was to meet her end. That probably was what most of her spider preys thought when she was about to end her life. She did it for good. They've would've suffered if she didn't acted. But ... It was still a terrifying last thought. She couldn't stop her tears anymore. She could barely see what was around her, hardly knew what was going on in her own body but she felt thoses tears. Her last tears.

"This is ... The end, huh ?"

Hornet looked at Lace with something she never knew she could feel towards her enemy before. Pity. It was hard to see her body destroyed like this. She looked so scared. Still ... She was against Hornet in the first place. She attacked her, more than once. Hornet fighting back was to be expected. She deliberately made this choice knowing the possible consequences. It was Lace's fault, not- ... Not ...

Hornet couldn't help but stare at the shaking body on the ground. It felt unrealistic, a little too tragic.

The spider got near the ground, gently touching Lace's body to see her state. It wasn't even reacting anymore, it was pretty hard to tell if Lace was even concious anymore. But she was. She was still breathing, had her eyes wide open and still attempted to grasp the floor when Hornet lift up her body to put the fencer's head on her knees. The shed a few other tears, unable to understand what was going on but even more terrified as time went by. Her life was slowly going of her body, but she simply wouldn't give up. Lace shivered as she felt Hornet gently petting her head.

"I'm ... Tired..."

Perhaps it was just a good time to go. She could've suffered a lot less if she simply decided to let go of her grasp on reality and close her eyes, so ... She did. She captured the image of her foe one last time with her barely functioning eyes and simply gave up.

Hornet slowly continued to pet her head, watching her enemy going slowly down with a heavy heart. She didn't want that. She would've never done that last strike if she knew it would end like that. It was ... Regrets.

She sees Lace fading away in her arms, giving her last breath to the one she thought of as an enemy, but would've rather considered a friend. Perhaps in another life ? Perhaps another day. For now ... It was simply an end.

Hornet kept the body between her arms for a good amount of time. She was just ... Lost. About everything that just happened. She has a hard time to believe that ... This was it. She would never have to fight her again. Was it for the best ? She wasn't sure. Theses fights made her somehow appreciate the fencer. It was a weird feeling that she barely understood but she felt a weird kind of happy with her around. Now Pharloom felt ... Hostile. And empty.

Perhaps that if she had a choice, she would go back in time and try to save her.  
But everything she had was a corpse in her hands, and regrets.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is the good end version of the fic ! enjoy !

"I am not going to loose this time, little spider ! I will make sure you won't reach what's behind thoses doors !"

The clashing sounds of the two metallic weapons was horrible to both of the girl's ears. They were tired, exhausted by theses constant fights. Lace was determined to stop Hornet before the cult captures her, but the spider was clearly not going to give up, at least not without giving all she could into a fight.

The more timed passed and more Lace became ... Aggressive. She was starting to hit harder, strong, faster. And with her attacks being quite often, Hornet was never able to get some proper rest. It was really something hard to go through, for both of them. Lace was getting desperate to kill Hornet. Because if she didn't do it on time, the cult would find her and ... Who knew what would they do to her ? Torture ? Mental use ? A long and painful death ? No ... Probably slavery. She was not going to let this happen. Even if it meant to be sleep deprived and vulnerable like that.

She kept jumping around, trying to get Hornet lost enough to strike her from behind quickly, in a place that would end her life immediately. But Hornet was intelligent, and just as agile. She kept following her movements and ... That's when it happened.

Lace thought she was on the right place to strike. She was right on top of the spider, she just had to let herself get down with her pin in hand to skewer her in one movement and it would be the end. But that was underestimating Hornet's reflexes. The spider moved quickly and used her needle to strike the fencer directly on her chest. The move was ... Unexpectedly powerful. It went through her exosqueletons in one go, piercing her flesh like a mere tiktik's. Lace lost all of her senses in one go, and didn't manage to stop her fall properly. She simply crashes on the floor with a loud sound, barely able to understand what was going on.

And that's where it went.

Lace is here. On the ground. She doesn't know what happened but ... She does know that her torso hurts like it never did. It burns, to a point where she's too confused to actually ask herself how and why.

Lace starts to loose her ability to see, and feels less and less pain. She should've known better, that thoses fights would end up with a defeat one day. This was it. The end was near. She gasped for air, her lungs burning at each breath she took. Tears starting to fall down of her eyes. She wasn't sure why ... She had learned to just accept the pain. She wasn't crying because of sadness. Maybe ... Was it fear ? It ressembled it. That was it. Lace didn't want to die. She was still fighting for her life despite the fact that she knew it was the end. Her desire to live couldn't be stopped even if she was to meet her end. That probably was what most of her spider preys thought when she was about to end her life. She did it for good. They've would've suffered if she didn't acted. But ... It was still a terrifying last thought. She couldn't stop her tears anymore. She could barely see what was around her, hardly knew what was going on in her own body but she felt thoses tears. Her last tears.

"This is... The end, huh ?"

Hornet stared at the body of her enemy for a few seconds. The end. That would be the end of Lace. That thought ... Hurt. A lot. Why ? She was an enemy, someone who actively tried to kill her. It shouldn't be someone to care about. Yet ... Seeing this body struggling to stay alive even if she had no chance of survival made her incredibly sad.

This was an accident. This was not supposed to end like this. And when she finally sees the tears of the bug, her heart shatters. She rushes toward the body, holding it against hers, trying to check on vital points.

A little regular yet very weak pulse was a melody to her ears. She was still fighting. She ... She had to do so, yeah ? She was against Hornet, the one who fought for her life so much, she couldn't just give up like that. She ... Had to stay alive.

Lace was simply lost due to the sensation of being moved. Her head was just so blurry. She was having such a hard time to concentrate on her breathing and her simply staying awake. If she didn't, it would be the end. And ... Hornet was with her. If it was the end, it must be her who provides it. Lace knows that she doesn't want to die. She's incredibly scared but if Hornet decides to strike her down, she wants to face it. She lived a life of glory and faced enemies with in mind that she could die at any time. Now was not the time to be a cowards and admit that she simply thought that such moment would never happen. Her breaths are becoming more and more difficult to get. She feels like her body is touched but she does not know when will the strike come. She waits and waits. She feels like hornet is putting something around her body but she doesn't know why or what it could be. She's becoming as tense as possible, trying to prepare herself more to face her fate at each second until ... She gives up. This becoming too though for her. She's tired. She doesn't want to fight anymore. She knows Hornet is here and ... It's a reassuring thought in itself at least. She won't be alone.

She takes a last gasp before speaking with the little air she got out of it.

"I'm glad that you are strong enough to face them."

She sees Hornet's face one last time and the world turns black. It's peaceful. Reposing. Something like she felt she needed for an eternity now. Times feels different in that place. She doesn't know how long she spent on here but she knows that it was not eternity. Because she feels something. On her face. In her mouth. Her senses come back to her, and she feels something that is slowly getting her out of the dark place. Pain. Everything felt ... So painful. She ends up opening her eyes once again, instinctively pulling back off the thing on her face and gasping.

The world is around her. The normal world. She looks around and sees that she's not in clothing anymore, and her body is covered in bandages. She looks at her right only to see a spider looking at he with a gentle smile.

She's confused. She would like answers but her mind is too blurry for that. She can't even thinking of a reaction to have when Hornet immediate puts her hand around her torso and lets them be for an entire minute. Lace is starting to get more and more confused but stops wondering when she sees the obvious. Hornet is checking if she's breathing properly.

"Sorry about earlier, you probably didn't like the idea of me invading your personal space but ... You simply were not breathing anymore. I couldn't just let you like that, I ... Had to do something."

Lace takes a while starring at the ground wondering what could she meant when she finally gets it. The thing she felt on her mouth wasn't just random. Hornet was giving her mouth to mouth. For ... How long ? How long has Lace been here ? What happened ? But most importantly...

"I am alive."

Hornet looked down on the floor with a little bit of pity.

"Yes you are. I was simply unable to let you die like that. I know your goal is to make me give up on my life but ... Mine is not to make you give up on yours. You looked like you were struggling to stay alive. I couldn't just leave you."

Lace sighed and bit her lip. It hurt to know that ... Hornet cared somehow. It hurt because she liked her. But she didn't want Hornet to like her back. They were supposed to hate each other no matter how much the fencer appreciated her presence. It hurt. Hornet took pity on her when she was just being less of a monster.

"... Pity is making you weak."

"And letting me heal you makes you weak too. We're both weak. It doesn't make us less powerful."

Lace is even more unhappy with this answer. She's struggling with her words and thoughts. It must've been blood loss or just the fact that she woke up not so long ago. But she knew that her brain was sending her one message. And she didn't had the time to think about the implications of it before it reached her mouth.

"Since you helped me not give up with my life ... Do you think I'd be able to make you not give up on yours anymore ?"

Hornet chuckled seeing that Lace blushed immediately after theses words were used.

"I don't know. But perhaps you trying to do so is for the best."


End file.
